Medical students in Albania are protesting recent government law changes aimed at stopping mass immigration of doctors and nurses and strengthening local health systems.
Albania has the lowest number of doctors and nurses per capita in Europe. 2020 data is shown.
In 2019, 18% of qualified medical staff worked abroad, of which 765 Albanian doctors worked in Germany, an increase of 21% compared to the previous year. The total number of doctors considered retired is estimated at 3,000.
As for nurses, it is unclear how many have quit, but the Nursing Order says at least 8,000 are unemployed, many of whom dream of working in the EU.
To combat this crisis, the government has introduced legislation that would allow medical students to work in the country for up to five years before completing their studies and being allowed to move abroad. Those who do not agree will be required to pay the full amount of tuition fees not specified in the draft law. But students who sign up will also benefit from social initiatives to help them get onto the local property ladder.
However, students in Tirana are not satisfied with this and took to the streets on Monday to protest Deputy Education Minister Albana Toll’s statement that students who refuse to pay the new tuition fees should stop their studies. He protested and demanded his resignation.
One student told local media that he did not yet know how much he would have to pay if he did not honor the condition of working locally.
“I was not given a contract or a draft. I just signed a declaration that I was engaged in general internal medicine. Even the price was not fixed, sometimes it was 6 million lek, sometimes it was 5.8 million lek. Sometimes it’s a lek (5,500 euros). It’s a confusing situation,” she said.
They also called for a public meeting with Education Minister Ogerta Manastiriu, a former health minister.
Liberal Party Vice-Leader Elisa Cicho supported the students, saying, “Students rightly oppose a law that holds their degrees hostage without any consultation.The students have no intention of leaving the country, but they are seeking dignity in their home country.” We must listen to and support our students, just as they were not listened to when they said they wanted to be treated with respect,” she wrote.
But the government insists the law is necessary.
Earlier this year, Prime Minister Edi Rama said there was a need to stop the exodus of experts, especially as the majority of them were heading to Germany.
“But we cannot fund Germany’s medical services…We cannot accept that medical students pay one-sixteenth of their tuition fees and the government covers the rest…and students receive a diploma. and go to Germany or some other place,” he said. .
Currently, tuition fees at Albanian universities are covered by a large amount of subsidies from the state. Students are objecting to paying tuition fees because the medical school’s facilities are inadequate.
Albania has been plagued by immigration problems, with at least 1.4 million people leaving the country since the fall of communism in 1991. At least half of the country’s current population of 2.7 million people want to leave for Europe, the United States or Canada.
(Alice Taylor | Euractiv.com)
